Stevens Point to hold referendum

An upcoming referendum was the focus of an Oct. 9 community forum led by Stevens Point Fire Chief Jb Moody and other city officials.

The November referendum seeks to raise funding for the fire department by nearly $1 million in order to increase fire department staffing closer to industry standards.

The fire department has been dealing with a growing number of calls, however, the number of firefighters has not increased since the early 1980s.

“We are looking to add nine firefighter-paramedics to our crew with this referendum,” said Moody. “We really need 15 additional line-staff positions but that’s too expensive so we are asking for nine which will add three firefighter-paramedics to each shift.”

The staff has remained the same over the years but with the increase in is becoming unsafe for fire crews.

“We take mental health very seriously around here and we don’t want our people to get burnt out. In order to do this we are asking for three additional firefighter paramedics to add to each [shift],” Moody said.

Moody said that in three minutes a fire can grow 16 times in size and they need to be able to get to the fire in under four minutes, but with low staffing it takes longer to get a fire under control.

“The quicker the time to get there, the better the outcome,” Moody said.

City Treasurer Corey Ladick said this referendum will help keep the community safe, help with action times, and help keep staff from burning out.

“The options were to write a SAFER grant (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant), then use shared revenue, and after using all other options, they are asking the community to decide on a referendum. This is a written request to the city for an increase in staffing and operational funding,” Ladick said.

Moody added that if approved the community can expect to see an increase in the city’s property taxes by $975,000 per year. This equals out to $42 per year for the owner of a $100,000 house, and $82 a year for a $194,000 home.

“Our mission is to improve the fire and life safety of the community through tanning, education, and risk reduction. But, with the amount of firefighter paramedics we have now, we aren’t able to lower risk reduction,” Moody said.

The next forum about the referendum will at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Stevens Point Police Department Community Room.